Helping Baby Boomers to continue to earn income, as long as they want

07/09/2017

Baby Boomer Marketers - What About Paid-Subscription Business Model?

Last Friday, two former googlers (as Google employees are called) presented to Shark Tank.

Their startup used the paid subscription model for an educational product for kids.

Monthly in snail mail comes a coding lesson positioned and packaged with Crayola-like graphic excitement. The price point for each monthly subscription ranges from $20 go $40. The subscription can be cancelled at any time.

The sharks didn't fund the venture. The main reason for the rejection didn't seem to be the paid subscription model. Rather the googlers seemed to lack business skills. The one offer they received they quibbled about and the shark swam away.

But those of us who are assessing the paid subscription business model wondered if the googlers were handling the paid-subscription model right and, more on point, should that have been how they intended to generate the lion's share of revenue, at least right now.

Entrepreneur reports the positives on the subscription model. Recent earnings show that the New York Times Inc. is faring better in revenue because of its paid digital subscriptions.

But, the Entrepreneur article also hammers that those using it must structure it right and keep adapting it. A failure on that end had been Blockbuster.

On tech online panel show "Gillmor Gang," the experts argue about paid subscriptions. For instance, should Medium adopt that model or will making readers pay for access kill it off?

Recently, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, which operates on a paid subscription basis, was shuttered. Abovehthelaw.com, which uses advertising and other kinds of profit centers, continues to thrive.

Most of us individual bloggers do not have a paywall, that is, require a paid subscription. Yet, those blogs can serve a commercial purpose. For me, they are a business development tool. Also they function as a profit center since I am a paid influencer. In addition, they provide platforms for networking.